From Ice Cream to Pizza & Politics

On Tuesday, November 12, Politics FitzU students hosted two 2020 presidential campaign events on the Rindge campus. With visits from Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign surrogates, and former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, the Franklin Pierce community had opportunities hear from advocates on both sides of the political spectrum.

With a twist on Politics FitzU's "Pizza & Politics" events, Ben & Jerry's founders Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield brought their signature ice cream and yielded the mantel of “most famous Vermonter” to Democratic candidate Senator Sanders. Cohen portrayed Sanders as a politician who has spoken out for justice on behalf of everyday Americans since his entry into politics 40 years ago, and encouraged audience members to get involved in his grass-roots campaign. Sanders has served as U.S. Senator from Vermont since 2007. Prior to that he was U.S. Representative from Vermont for 16 years, and served three terms as mayor of Burlington.

Later, Republican presidential candidate Mark Sanford met with the community in DiPietro Library, despite having officially announced the suspension of his campaign earlier in the day. Sanford said that the impending impeachment of the president had made it impossible for him to get his message out. He made his case for prioritizing the reduction of the national debt, drawing his chair up close to the students in the audience and engaging them in thinking about the impact of debt on their lives now and in the future. Sanford served as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district from 1995 to 2001, and again from 2013 to 2018.